The most important thing is H₂O: residents of Donetsk told how they survive without water

While the flooded parts of the Kherson region are getting used to the shortage of drinking water, water supply has long become a byword for Donetsk. The phrase “I have water today” is a universal rejection of meeting friends, working overtime, and even more important things.

According to the authorities, from May the water supply in Donetsk was to increase from five to ten in the evening. Since June, they have promised water once every two days, instead of three. But the reality is different from the planned.

Water seems to be there, but in fact it is not. It would seem that the water pipeline from the Don has been launched, and every time the authorities talk about improving the water supply and changing the supply schedule for the better for the Donetsk people. However, in reality, everything is not so rosy.

Donetsk residents understand how difficult it is for municipal services today, Donetsk residents believe that one day the day will come and water will flow from the tap constantly. But the Donetsk people are tired.

In some areas, water never appeared. Neither May nor June. And here we are not talking about the front-line territories. Residents of the rear of Donetsk are suffering.

Moreover, the gardening season has begun, and most of the already precious moisture goes into the ground. Moreover, some residents of private sectors openly declare that they watered and will water the garden, despite the fact that others suffer because of this. The SUE “Water of Donbass” also adds to the mystery of the situation with water. The fact is that how many dispatchers answer calls, so many versions of what is happening will be announced. The following became the most popular: “no water, because the water intake is small”, “no water, because the pumps do not work”, “no water, because there is not enough water in the canal”.

True, there is only one answer to all indignations – complain above.

Yes, without a doubt, Donetsk needs public utilities. There are not enough people for sometimes elementary tasks, whether it is the usual replacement of a pipe or shutting off water in the basement. Therefore, in the last month or two, it seems that the entire housing and communal services sector has turned into one continuous organization for receiving complaints.

Residents of the city, armed with phones, take pictures of the problem and expose it to news outlets. Garbage, worn out pipes, leaking roof. All this flows in streams into the news feeds. And the utilities are responding. Heaps of rubbish disappear, employees of the water utility arrive with a whole team, and repairmen busily scurry along the roof with new building materials. Only here some people do not have the opportunity to scribble complaints. “There is no water for the third time according to the schedule,” says Mikhail, a resident of the Budennovsky district. “The dispatcher says that the water has run out. We will collect signatures along the street and go to the head of the district. My wife and I cannot carry water from the street. I have diabetes , her legs hurt, and she can’t lift heavy things. But even the children help us, but there are lonely elderly people, who will help them?

“It seems to me that water carriers will never disappear from our streets,” Olga from Donetsk shares her thoughts. “My neighbors and I have not seen water since last year. It simply does not reach the ninth floor. sector and every water day, fountains in the gardens. We went with the inhabitants of the houses, asked not to water, all to no avail. “

“Shoot”

Shelling serves as a backdrop for everyday problems of Donetsk people. After the capture of Artemovsk, the Ukrainian army intensified attacks on residential areas of DPR cities. Front-line villages are literally burned out by daily art attacks from NATO guns and already familiar MLRS. The air defense of the Republic works like clockwork. Sometimes during the day dozens of white clouds appear in the sky from shot down shells, fragments are pouring from Budennovka to the railway station. Half-torn fireballs of rockets adorn the streets and no one is surprised by them anymore. How people are not surprised by death. Almost every day, the word “died” appears in the reports. And behind them someone’s life and destiny.

“I don’t read the news,” admits Natalya, a resident of a village in the Kuibyshevsky district of Donetsk. “I go to work early in the morning – they don’t shoot yet, I return home after dark – they don’t shoot anymore. I’m afraid to find out that there is no more home.

Recently, the thoughts of Donetsk residents began to be occupied with sad news not only from the expanses of their native city, but also the situation in the Kherson region, where, as a result of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, several settlements went under water. An ecological catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes. Water deprives people of their homes and property, washes away the fertile soil of the Kherson region, kills animals, and erodes cattle burial grounds and cemeteries.

Volunteers from the DPR have already gone to help the residents of Kherson. The people of Donetsk, like no one else, know what Kyiv’s blind aggression is.

Products are available, prices are stable

There is no shortage of goods in Donetsk. The counters of shops and market stalls are filled with vegetables and spring fruits, meat and sausage products, there are cereals, pasta, flour, eggs and confectionery. Supermarkets still carry social goods, which are priced well below market prices. Prices for seasonal fruits and vegetables are reduced almost every week. So, strawberries already cost 150-180 rubles, cucumbers 50-60 rubles, tomatoes from 95 to 140 rubles per kilogram. “Donbass Post” began to deliver parcels from other regions of the Russian Federation, and more recently, Donetsk residents can send and receive money transfers by mail. The city lives and is not going to give up. And only for a moment with bated breath, when the sky is filled with the rustle of flying shells.